Morning By Morning #218

We know that in all things God works
for the good of those who love him.

Romans 8:28

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

A true believer is absolutely sure about some things. For example, he knows God is firmly ensconced in the stern of the boat when the storm is at its worst. He believes His invisible hand is always on the world’s rudder and that wherever God’s providence may allow it to drift, Jehovah steers the ship. That reassuring knowledge prepares him for everything, for he looks across the raging sea and sees Jesus walking on the waves, and then he hears a voice saying to him, “It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Matt. 14:27).

A believer also knows God is eternally wise and, knowing this, he is confident there can be no accidents or mistakes and that nothing can occur that should not happen. He is able to say, “If God wills it, it is better for me to lose all I have, and I know that experiencing the worst calamity is the wisest and kindest thing if God ordains it.”

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,” and a true Christian does not merely ascribe to it as some theory but knows it as a matter of fact. “All things” have worked for good so far—the bitter medicine mixed in the proper proportions have worked their cure, and the sharp cuts of the scalpel have cut away the proud flesh, cleansed the wound, and facilitated healing. To date every event has brought about the most divinely blessed results, and thus, believing God rules over all; He governs wisely, and He brings good out of evil, the believer’s heart is reassured and enabled to calmly face each trial as it comes.

A believer can pray in the true spirit of acceptance, “Send me what You will, my God—as long as it comes from You—for no evil portion has ever come from Your table to any of Your children.”

Say not my soul, “From whence

Can God relieve my care?”

Remember that Omnipotence

Has servants everywhere.

His method is sublime,

His heart profoundly kind;

God never is before His time,

And never is behind.

Thomas Toke Lynch, 1818 – 1871

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

If we pray, as Spurgeon says today, “Send me what You will, my God,” we must be willing to take the bad with the good. Yet what we call “bad” is not bad if it’s God’s will, for He promised to work “all things…for…good.”

This is problematic for “name it—claim it” Christians who believe we should never suffer. Yet this is unbiblical, for Paul taught that God uses “all things” to conform us “to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29 KJV), and said, “I want to know…the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him” (Phil. 3:10).

Should we desire anything less?